Kermit Davis

John Kermit Davis Jr. (born December 14, 1959) is an American college basketball coach for the Ole Miss Rebels. Davis was previously the head coach at Middle Tennessee. His head coaching experience also includes brief stops at Idaho (twice)[1] and Texas A&M.[2]

Kermit Davis
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamOle Miss
ConferenceSEC
Record45–38 (.542)
Annual salary$2.85 million
Biographical details
Born (1959-12-14) December 14, 1959
Leakesville, Mississippi
Playing career
1978–1980Phillips County CC
1980–1982Mississippi State
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1983–1984Mississippi State (assistant)
1984–1986Southwest Mississippi CC
1986–1988Idaho (assistant)
1988–1990Idaho
1990–1991Texas A&M
1991–1993Chipola JC (assistant)
1993–1994Chipola JC
1994–1996Utah State (assistant)
1996–1997Idaho
1997–2002LSU (assistant)
2002–2018Middle Tennessee
2018–presentOle Miss
Head coaching record
Overall448–276 (.619)
Tournaments2–6 (NCAA Division I) (.250)
3–2 (NIT) (.600)
0–2 (CIT) (.000)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3 C-USA regular season (2014, 2017, 2018)
2 C-USA Tournament (2016, 2017)
2 Sun Belt East Division (2012, 2013)
2 Sun Belt regular season (2012, 2013)
2 Big Sky Tournament (1989, 1990)
2 Big Sky regular season (1989, 1990)
Awards
SEC Coach of the Year (2019)
C-USA Coach of the Year (2017)
Sun Belt Coach of the Year (2003)
Big Sky Coach of the Year (1989)

Early life and family

Davis's father, Kermit Sr., was the head coach at Mississippi State University for seven seasons, ending in 1977.[3] He was an alumnus of the school and was promoted to head coach at age 34 after four years as an assistant for the Bulldogs. In his first season in 1971, he was named SEC Coach of the Year.[4]

The younger Davis graduated from high school in 1978 and then played at Phillips County Community College in Arkansas for two years, and transferred to hometown Mississippi State, where he played two seasons and earned a bachelor's degree in 1982 and a master's in 1984 while a graduate assistant.

He and his wife, Betty, have two daughters, Ally and Claire. Daughter Claire is an Oakland High School (Tennessee) graduate and business major at Mississippi State University.[5] On June 10, 2017, Claire married Fletcher Johnson.[6] Fletcher is a Tupelo High School graduate and the 2010 State Amateur Golf Champion.[7] Fletcher, like his wife, attended Mississippi State University where he majored in Finance and played for the Mississippi State Bulldogs on the golf team.[8]

Coaching career

When promoted from assistant to head coach at Idaho in 1988 at age 28, Davis was the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I.[9] He had been an assistant for two seasons with the Vandals under new and first-time head coach Tim Floyd, who left for New Orleans. Floyd had rejuvenated the program and under Davis, Idaho had consecutive 25–6 (.806) seasons in 1989 and 1990, winning the Big Sky regular season and tournament titles to make the NCAA tournament both years. Davis left the Palouse for Texas A&M of the Southwest Conference in March 1990,[10][11] but resigned a year later after an 8–21 (.276) first season in which he committed rules violations that landed A&M on two years probation and resulted in a two-year show-cause order against Davis himself.[12][13] After three years at Chipola Junior College and two seasons as an assistant at Utah State, Davis returned to Idaho as head coach in March 1996, then left a year later to become associate head coach under John Brady at LSU.[14][15]

Davis became head coach at Middle Tennessee in 2002. He led winning records in his first four seasons but first made a postseason tournament in 2010 at the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Middle Tennessee followed that with appearances in the 2012 NIT and 2013 NCAA Tournament. Middle Tennessee moved from the Sun Belt Conference to Conference USA for the 2013–14 season. Following an appearance in the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Tournament, Middle Tennessee made the 2016 NCAA Tournament by way of winning the C-USA Tournament. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a #15 seed, Middle Tennessee upset #2 seed (and AP-ranked #2) Michigan State 90–81.[16] Middle Tennessee then lost the second-round game to #10 seed Syracuse 75–50. The following season Middle Tennessee made it to the second round a second consecutive year by upsetting #5 seed Minnesota, but again losing in the second round, this time to #4 seed (and AP-ranked #21) Butler.

At the conclusion of the 2017–18 season, Davis was named the head coach at Ole Miss. [17] Davis led the Rebels to the NCAA Tournament in his first season, where they lost to Oklahoma in the first round.

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Idaho Vandals (Big Sky Conference) (1988–1990)
1988–89 Idaho 25–613–31stNCAA Round of 64
1989–90 Idaho 25–613–31stNCAA Round of 64
Idaho (first): 50–12 (.806)26–6 (.813)
Texas A&M Aggies (Southwest Conference) (1990–1991)
1990–91 Texas A&M 8–212–149th
Texas A&M: 8–21 (.276)2–14 (.125)
Idaho Vandals (Big West Conference) (1996–1997)
1996–97 Idaho 13–175–115th (East)
Idaho (second): 13–17 (.433)5–11 (.313)
Idaho (total): 63–29 (.685)31–17 (.646)
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (Sun Belt Conference) (2002–2013)
2002–03 Middle Tennessee 16–149–52nd (East)
2003–04 Middle Tennessee 17–128–63rd (East)
2004–05 Middle Tennessee 19–127–73rd (East)
2005–06 Middle Tennessee 16–128–62nd (East)
2006–07 Middle Tennessee 15–178–105th (East)
2007–08 Middle Tennessee 17–1511–73rd (East)
2008–09 Middle Tennessee 18–1410–83rd (East)
2009–10 Middle Tennessee 19–1413–52nd (East)CIT First Round
2010–11 Middle Tennessee 16–1610–62nd (East)
2011–12 Middle Tennessee 27–714–21st (East)NIT Quarterfinals
2012–13 Middle Tennessee 28–619–11st (East)NCAA First Four
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (Conference USA) (2013–2018)
2013–14 Middle Tennessee 24–913–3T–1st
2014–15 Middle Tennessee 19–179–96thCIT First Round
2015–16 Middle Tennessee 25–1013–52ndNCAA Round of 32
2016–17 Middle Tennessee 31–517–11stNCAA Round of 32
2017–18 Middle Tennessee 25–816–21stNIT Second Round
Middle Tennessee: 332–188 (.638)185–83 (.690)
Ole Miss Rebels (Southeastern Conference) (2018–present)
2018–19 Ole Miss 20–1310–8T–6thNCAA Round of 64
2019–20 Ole Miss 15–176–1212th
2020–21 Ole Miss 10–85–6
Ole Miss: 45–38 (.542)21–26 (.447)
Total:448–276 (.619)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References
  1. Vogt, Andrea (March 16, 1996). "UI to name basketball coach today". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
  2. Stalwick, Howie (March 21, 1991). "Davis says he violated some rules". Spokane Chronicle. p. C1.
  3. "Mississippi State's Davis resigns". St. Petersburg Times. March 19, 1977. p. 3C.
  4. Shearer, Ed (March 17, 1971). "Kermit Davis honored as SEC coach of the year". Waycross Journal-Herald. Associated Press. p. P-7.
  5. Pogue, Greg. "Pogue: Hoops is family affair for Davis family" (January 3, 2015).
  6. Esh, Connie. "Remarkable Rutherford Woman: Coach's daughter loves Raiders basketball" (April 25, 2017).
  7. "State Amateur Past Champions". Mississippi Golf Association.
  8. "Fletcher Johnson". Mississippi State Athletics.
  9. Pierce, Oliver (October 26, 1988). "Davis isn't feeling pressure". Idahonian. Moscow. p. 8A.
  10. "Davis now an Aggie; UI begins search". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. March 29, 1990. p. 1B.
  11. "Davis hopeful he's getting in on resurgence of SWC hoop". Idahonian. Moscow. Associated Press. March 29, 1990. p. 1C.
  12. "Davis resigns as coach of Texas A&M Aggies". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. March 16, 1991. p. 1B.
  13. Blanchette, John (March 31, 1993). "Idaho can't hire Davis if image means anything". Spokesman-Review. p. C1.
  14. Wickline, Michael R. (May 17, 1997). "Mosman bows out of bonus decision". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 5A.
  15. O'Neal, Shawn (April 2, 1997). "Davis gone, again". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. p. 1B.
  16. Skretta, Dave (March 18, 2016). "Middle Tennessee St upsets No. 2 seed Michigan State, 90–81". Associated Press. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  17. Staff (March 15, 2018). "Ole Miss announces Kermit Davis as Rebels' next coach". espn.com. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
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